Glossary Details – Lecythidaceae

Glossary Details:

Spikes of a species of Carex. Photo by S. A. Mori.

Flower and inflorescence features of Cyperaceace. Drawing by B. Angell.

Title: Voyria rosea. Photo by S. A. Mori.

Description: Voyria rosea based on Mori et al. 24912 from the vicinity of Saül, French Guiana. This plant is an achlorophyllous, heterotrophic plant. It obtains its nutrition from decaying organic material in the soil, i.e., it does not photosynthesize. Previously a heterotrophic plant such as this was said to be a saprophyte but many saprophytes have now been shown to have a mycorrhizal relationship and, thus, are more appropriately called mycoheterotrophs.

Term:

Scale

Definition:

Any thin, scarious bract or bracteole (usually representing a vestigial leaf found along the stems of some achlorophyllous plants such as species of Voyria (Gentianaceae); the bracteole subtending a flower of Cyperaceae; in pteridophytes, similar structures most commonly found on the rhizomes and stipe and less commonly on the fronds.